Anita,

No, I haven’t. I’m scared to mention any possibility of breaking up because every time I show any hesitancy in a future with her she gets really upset. All I’ve told her is that I want it to be her decision and to not be based on me.

Peppermint- Thank you so much for your thoughtful response! It’s very reassuring to hear that I won’t be a failure if I go home. I actually have been trying very hard to do more outside of school (internships, college classes, volunteering, dance classes) and I’ve talked to my local coordinator about it. She’s very helpful in coming up with ideas and supportive- but I’ve been asking her for two months and none of these things have actually happened yet. Things move more slowly in Senegal, but it makes me feel like I’m not a priority of hers and that every time she says “We’ll get that set up for you next week” she actually means we’ll just talk about it again and nothing will ever happen. It’s very frustrating and I know there’s a good lesson to be learned in fighting for what I need, but I feel like I’m just never going to get it no matter how hard I push. The program is being very flexible with me since I’m a gap year student, but I still can’t just go out and do things on my own since it’s a “youth” program and that means I’m relying on her for everything.

J- I haven’t really told them about my feelings yet other than “I’m bored”, but I’ll be sure to bring that up with my local coordinator in our meeting this week. The school has very few extracurriculars, and it’s difficult for me to stay after since I live far away and it can be difficult to get home. I am looking for activities outside of school though. I live with a host family and I really like them, but I’m having a difficult time connecting with them because I’m on the shy side and there’s a big language barrier (I had never studied French before coming here). I have host sisters who are fairly close to me in age but I’m not living with any other exchange students. Thank you for your advice!

Anita- Thank you for your wonderful reply. I have recently started getting more into mindfulness and meditation (which is what led me to Tiny Buddha!) in an attempt to improve my outlook. So far I haven’t seen much a difference, but I figure something like that takes time and effort.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Dana.